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Help:Template Terminology Glossary
Definitions of some useful template terminology for understanding intermediate-level template usage here on the wiki. Glossary ;named parameters :These parameters are inputted to a template based on their name, which is entered before an = (equal sign) along with their value in a template call. This means named parameters can be rearranged while unnamed parameters cannot be. Leading or trailing spaces are ignored in named parameters. ;namespace :The area of the wiki a page is in, delineated by the word or phrase before a colon on a wiki page’s title. For example, Template:, Gallery:, Main: (this is the default for every article not in any other namespace, and is not displayed before a colon in the page title like other namespaces), Special:, The ZNG Wiki: and Help: are all namespaces on this wiki. ;parameter :The optional inputs to a template call. If there are no parameters, the transcluded content is static. Parameters are set to certain values which are reflected in the template output. Parameters can be either named or unnamed. ;template :Any page that stores some bit of wikicode to be transcluded to other pages on the wiki. Usually in the Template: namespace, but may also be elsewhere, such as the Gallery: namespace on this wiki. Whenever the template is updated, any pages that are transcluding it will be updated with the new content. (It may sometimes take a few minutes for changes to take effect.) Templates often support different parameters to change their appearance when being transcluded. ;template call (n.) :An instance of the wikicode that sets up a certain transclusion to a certain page. Consists of the transclusion syntax and the parameters and values used: everything all together is a template call. Every time a template is used is there is a template call that causes that to happen. ;template output :What is seen on the rendered version of the page as a result of a template call. ;template page :The same thing as a template. ;transclude (v.) :To reproduce the wikicode of a wiki page on another using the (double curly brackets) syntax for opening and closing, respectively. The name of the page being transcluded (i.e. the template page) is included directly after the first {{, optionally followed by a |'' (vertical bar) with the name of the first value or parameter–value pair. An aditional ''| separates each additional value or parameter–value pair as needed. ;transclusion (n.) :The act of transcluding. :The wikicode used to designate a transclusion is a template call and the visible result of transclusion is a template output on the final rendered page. ;unnamed parameters :These parameters are inputted to a template based on the order they appear in the template call. While unnamed parameters take up less space, they do not advertise what changing them does to an editor of the wiki as clearly as named parameters, so they are typically only used for when there are just a few parameters to input to a template. ;value :The data input to a parameter that is processed and used to change the template output in some way. Values can either be inserted verbatim into the template output at specific places determined by their parameter, or be evaluated using logic (such as whether they exist at all, or whether they match an expected input) to produce a certain output that corresponds to the value entered. Leading or trailing spaces are stripped from a template call before values are inputted to the template. ;wikicode :The system of syntax rules that allows formatting and other features on a wiki such as this one. :An actual document or sequence of characters produced using these rules. This is what is viewed in the edit menu in source mode.